Man sentenced after victim IDs old classmate from Facebook

GERMANTOWN, Md. – A woman says she was able to identify the man who broke into her home and attacked her because he was a former middle school classmate who she recognized from periodic appearances in her Facebook news feed.

Montgomery Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Mays says 24-year-old DeVonte Dixon didn't realize that the woman whose Germantown home he invaded last year was his Facebook friend, according to multiple news outlets.

Dixon was given a 12-year prison sentence Monday for his role in the Nov. 4 attack. Prosecutors said Dixon kicked open the apartment door of a young Germantown mother, demanded money and beat the woman as an armed man stood watch at her door.

Investigators used the victim's memory as well as a distinctive shoeprint to link Dixon to the crime.